Tuesday, September 02, 2008

A week ago, upon the announcement of his retirement, we featured a classic try by legendary Wallaby fullback Matt Burke. This week we thought it would be nice to follow up with this interesting snippet off the show Total Rugby.

We get to see Burke and his Newcastle teamates at his testimonial cricket match, against the Western Force believe it or not. As on the rugby field, Burke oozes class in everything he does, and delivers a lovely square cut for four, but is then unfortunately caught out when going for the big one.

The clip gives great insight into how he came up through the ranks, starting with Rugby Sevens alongside greats such as Campese and Lynagh. His rise to the Waratahs and the Wallabies followed shortly, and we get to hear from the man himself as he talks us through those special moments in his career.

Playing in Newcastle for the past few years, Burke touches on his struggles with understanding the Geordie accent, and reflects on his time in the game he loves, and how being paid for it was simply a bonus.

Oh, and he did take a wicket in the cricket too, as his gentle doddle of an offspinner bamboozled the Force batsman into thinking he could knock him out the park.